


Detached

by FOMO



Category: The Walking Dead (Comics), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Tragedy, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Major Spoilers, Negan is a potty mouth, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Profanity usage, Romance, Sex, Social Anxiety, Suicidal Thoughts, Tragedy, Violence, Zombies, shit will hit the fan, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 16:12:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11809557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FOMO/pseuds/FOMO
Summary: He had saved her from a pack of walkers. She remembered the way he had extended his hand out toward her, the way he had not hesitated to save her life while also putting his own life at risk. He saved her even though he could’ve left her for dead. He should’ve, she wanted him to. But he didn’t.He made her believe she had to survive now, to be thankful for this gift he gave her. His gift was a chance, a choice; to die or work with him, to survive in this fucked up world. He demanded the latter, believed she needed him for protection, to provide, to give her a life worth living and that was true before.He believed she was weak, but that wasn’t true anymore."Let me die."





	Detached

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Hope you enjoy! I know there's a lot of grammar issues, hopefully I'll be able to get this beta'd so it isn't complete crap lol.

News spread fast of the outbreak, of the infection, of those who came back from presumably dying.

 

The rumours got around fast since the town she lived near was small, the population barely going over 131 residents, only 60 now since it was the middle of summer and most were out on vacation. Barely anyone came by to visit Stockbridge, the tiny town held nothing special in the vicinity nor did it have anything of interest for others to come by for. Most who originally came had come for a small quiet life, to distance themselves from relatives or to escape the busy city life.

 

There was a wooden, makeshift sign that stood crooked and decaying, the town’s name scrawled out in almost illegible handwriting; “Stockbridge: 140 people and dwindling.” In small lettering, “The Thicket” was scribed on below “Stockbridge.” The first sign the town had, had got taken out by a sudden rainstorm, taking down the original sign and uprooted  trees in the area.

 

Stockbridge was a small town encompassed around a sea of trees, endless miles of lakes and ponds scattered about the area. The site of the town was miles away from other cities, not many people visiting from said cities due to the fact the town itself was a town long forgotten in the vast ocean of nothingness surrounding the area, no one was able to see the forest edge for all the goddamn trees, most of the forest being more of a large congestion of shrubbery. Most who grew up in Stockbridge eventually aspired for bigger, more fulfilling dreams than the ones those settled for in the town.

 

_Small shops, small people, small lives._

 

If you lived in Stockbridge, you either lived a satisfied life living, or you left, _simple._

 

 _Simple shops, simple people, simple lives_.

 

All the buildings were spread out along the few concrete streets that formed a canal like passage through the town, small alleys formed channels connecting the few streets it had to the main street. The main street had a small park like center as a place for a gathering of people, benches and flowerbeds sat adjacent to the trees that marked the ending of each street.

 

Stockbridge had a rustic look to it, the apartments only stood at a maximum of three stories each while the only shop in town for commodity and goods had only one ground floor. An elderly couple owned and ran the shop; Mr. and Mrs. Jones. Everyone in town knew and adored them, they were two of the few elderly people that resided in the Thicket.  

 

The rumours started out as just as they were; rumours, and they’d gotten out about people in another town over rioting, robbing, and looting; people ending up dead from the cross hairs of violence. The eery feeling of dread casted on everyone in the small town that day, leading to school being canceled until further notice.

 

 _This_ wasn’t something to turn your head away to and ignore like the nightmares that you pushed away for the reassurement that it wasn’t the eminent horrors of the world that would convince you otherwise. These nightmares that could be dreamt upon irrational fear and fixated belief in them being real were not possible.

 

No, this nightmare was very much _real,_ and it came fully equipped with the unshakeable feeling of _fear_ that casted on everyone in town.

 

The outbreak had been broadcasted on the few remaining news channels that were left, terrifying everyone watching. Images displayed people rioting, stealing and looting, blood curdling screams echoed out of the from the tv monitors, people dismembering and attacking and _eating_ one another in broad daylight by the thousands. She had the luxury to still have her television working and now got how shitty life was going to be now, or at least what was left of it now anyways.

 

Government messages being played on radio stations across the country, telling people to “remain calm and trust in the military; to keep faith that we as a nation can overcome this.” If people were weary of the stability of the nation before, there was a damn good reason for freaking out now.

 

And that’s exactly what most people did; freak out. People flooded the streets and roads in their cars, seeking out a way out from cities in a haste. In the beginning, most of the residents of the Thicket remained calm, though one-third of the residents left recently, leaving only twenty people left in the Thicket. Most of those who resided in the Thicket left to be with distant relatives to see if their remaining family was still alive, even though the chances were minimal they had decided to leave. She didn’t know whether or not she should have left, but she decided to stay for now, to try and remain calm in her home. Either way, she had nothing left out there except her home in the Thicket.

 

She thought there was no reason to panic now, the town was far from any major cities, and a good percentage of the food was grown in the town, the remaining who stayed tended the community garden. She hadn’t approached any of them, always keeping her distance from them, away from their view. She watched saw them tending the gardens while she stayed up in the canopy of the trees. It was an impressive sight really, the garden taking up a whole neighborhood block and was made on a great site of soul.  Anywhere in the Thicket was a good place to plant, a great deal of the land was rich in nutrients.

 

Everything in the first beginning months were fine, the community garden was tended to on a regular basis, the small store Mr. and Mrs. Jones had left behind still had a great deal of food to spare amongst the remaining twenty people including her to ration. She kept fit, running around the town in the morning while it was still cool and working out, though before the mentions of the outbreak, this was her daily routine beforehand. On her morning runs, she’d spot other people from town. She made no effort to interact with them.

 

Out of the small handful of people in town that she knew, she only ever really talked to two people. Both left.

 

_Ava and Clyde._

She kept to herself as a young child, preferring to stay away from kids her age. It wasn’t like she didn’t like people, it was rather that she preferred to be by herself, she found independence from others liberating and relaxing. Social interaction made her uneasy, finding it difficult to start a conversation or god forbid retain one. Before the outbreak, she only went into town for her morning runs or to pick up some food from Mr. and Mrs. Jones. She didn’t have a job, so she didn’t have any money, but the Jones’ had offered her more than enough food when she passed by. It was hard turning down supplies from people as nice as them, though it made her feel guilty for not offering more to them.

The Jones’ always saw her by herself, originally trying to start out conversations with her as she passed by their store every morning, though they noticed she was  a girl of a few words. They thought she needed a little bit more kindness in her life, soon realizing small conversation wasn’t the best way of showing kindness towards her, instead deciding to show her kindness through actions, which was providing her with bare necessities.

 

Not having other siblings or a parental figure in her early childhood made it even more wearisome to now have to talk to others since the situation had become more demanding. She needed to talk to people in town, she’d have to fight her anxieties and establish a connection to these people, even if the thought of talking to strangers made her want to throw up.

 

_It’s now or never…_

 

Sighing, she stood up from her spot on the couch she sat on and looked down at her watch that read; ten-fifty-five A.M. Stretching, she extended her arms up into the air, arching her back and yawning. Turning her head, looking at the window above her bed, she saw the gray sky that loomed over, a soft fog dancing over the tops of the trees.

 

_Cold._

 

She made her way over to the full body mirror she kept in her room, looking at reflection that stood looking back at her. Dark amber eyes stared back at her, a mess of light brown hair fell down her shoulders that stopped at her midsection, grey sweatpants and a large flannel adorned her lean body. Reaching over to the brush that laid on the table nearby, she combed through her hair, trying to get out all the tangles. She then made her way over to the bathroom, stepping onto the cold tile. She shivered, stepping closer to the bathroom mirror and noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

 

She got used to the sleepless nights, the way it held her by the throat, keeping her from closing her eyes. Insomnia left her turning and tossing in bed every night. I kept her from not getting the sleep she desperately wanted, instead made her body rigid. Whenever she felt she was just about to drift to sleep, the insomnia would shake her awake, the fears and anxieties of the next day plagued her at night. So every day she felt tired.

 

The feeling of being constantly tired was something she couldn’t get used to, feeling sluggish was a hindering feeling keeping her from feeling at her best. Not feeling her best kept her from interacting with others, which she knew she had to do.

 

She strutted over towards her dresser that was positioned beside her bed, not too far from the couch she had sat on. Opening the wooden drawers, she settled on black tight leggings and a white t-shirt. She moved over towards the full body mirror again and began stripping herself down to her underwear. Before putting on her clothes, she stared at her naked reflection.

 

A long, jagged scar adorned the length of her midsection, a constant reminder of the past she wanted to forget.

 

Shaking her head, she tried to remain focused on the task before her. She brushed her teeth then washed her face. Slipping into the clothes she decided on, she grabbed socks from on top of her dresser and made her way out of her room and into the living room.

 

The living room was mostly bare, the only furniture placed was a beanbag that was placed against the white walls of room next to a bookshelf riddled with books snuggled into a corner. A small kitchen was adjacent to the living, mostly bare cupboards, unused tupperware scattered the marbled counter. She made her way over to the walk in closet beside the door, opening it up and stepping inside to grab the brown leather jacket she loved to wear. She took the scarlet muffler from the closet as well as she put on the leather jacket then tying the red muffler around her neck.

 

She dove her hands into the mass of her hair, flicking her wrists outwards to bring her hair from underneath the muffler to rest on her shoulders. She yawned again, putting a hand over her mouth and arched her back. She winced, feeling a knot in her back from the minimal sleep she got.

 

She walked over to the kitchen and opened a drawer to reveal several packs of mint gum. She grabbed one packet, tearing open the plastic wrapping and lazily throwing the wrapping on the floor and opened the pack and took out a piece of gum, shoving the packet into her jacket pocket and opening up the silver wrapping of the gum. She plopped the mint fresh gum into her mouth, throwing the wrapper onto the floor like the previous one. Wrappers littered the kitchen floor.

 

_Huh, I gotta clean that shit up eventually..._

 

She sauntered her way over to the door, kneeling down to grab her combat boots and putting them on.

 

_But not today._

 

And she had thought “not today,” every single day for the past couple years. So now the kitchen was a mess, and she had not found it a major deal to clean it up.

 

She opened the door, stepping out to be meet the subtle cold breeze that greeted her. She smiled, chewing the gum in her mouth repetitively and popping the gum, walking her way over to the main plaza of the town. She hummed a small tune, thinking back to Ava and Clyde. They had left, both of them had encouraged her to leave with them. Afterall; what did she have left here? Strangers? An empty house that never felt like home? Why had she stayed?

 

_Because they would die out there._

 

When they had asked her to come, she had said no. Then they had asked her why, and she had said she didn’t know why. They were upset she wasn’t coming along with them, but they didn’t press the matter. She knew their chances out there were slim since they had wanted to go to one of the major big cities to scavenge, saying the military occupation being near some of the major cities would be loaded with guns. And they had. And then those cities were bombed, and what she expected to have been bombed with Ava and Clyde.

 

They were gone for sure. She remembered the day they left. They hadn’t said goodbye. It had left her wondering if they actually cared for her. Though she wouldn’t know what that was _really_ like. Everyone that she had somewhat cared for or cared for her were gone.

 

After a couple of minutes walking down the street, she eventually came upon the community garden,  seeing a decent amount of people scattered amongst the plants and tending to them. She unlatched the gate entrance, stepping inside the garden then quietly closing the gate behind her, latching it.

 

She looked over the people who were there, most of them were women, and there was only two men who were pulling out weeds and throwing them elsewhere. She balled her fists, her fingers rubbing over her knuckles and cracking each individual finger as she made her way over to a woman who was watering the plants. The woman looked up from her watering, turning her head to now smile brightly at her, putting down the watering can beside.

 

This woman had dark brown hair cut shoulder length, a light bob framing her face. She had dark brown eyes to match, light smile lines graced her face. She wore a simple match of grey jeans and an oversized baby blue crew neck t-shirt. Dark navy blue but dirtied sneakers on her feet. She had light brown eyes. She stood now, settling her hands on her hips and still smiling brightly.

 

“What can I do for ‘ya?”

 

Amber eyes fixated themselves on the dirt ground beneath their feet, fidgeting. Hands found their way cracking knuckles, repeating the same habit to calm her nerves. Settling her hands at her sides, rubbing the cuffs of the leather jacket she wore, she tried to make eye contact with the woman before her, finding it somewhat easy as the woman before her gave her a reassuring smile.

 

With a sudden burst of confidence, she smiled.

 

“Hi, I was wondering if I could start helping out around here.”

 

The girl smiled at her. A warm feeling found their way to her cheeks as she continued to crack at her knuckles.

 

“Do you have any experience…”

 

She laughed, softly kicking the dirt under her combat boots.

 

“Uhm, I had some flowers before, but, uhm- they died…”

 

The girl in front of her laughed, her voice a warm tone that sent shivers up her spine.

 

“Well, doesn’t matter too much. I’ll just have to remember not to have you near the plants.”

 

_Great. Now she thinks you’re incapable. Smart thinking, dumbass._

 

“Nah, I’m just joking. We’ll have to teach you to tend to ‘em ‘ventually, but for now, I needa know what you’re good at; what you’re comfortable doing.”

 

_Thank god I didn’t tell her the plant died immediately after I got it…_

 

“Uhm, I can lift heavy things… I guess…? Uhm, I’m good at uhm…”

 

_Wow. Great first impression. She’s gonna think you can’t even talk for yourself-_

 

“Hm…”

 

_Oh yeah; you can’t._

 

She mentally slapped herself. She needed to stop doing that, to stop beating herself up constantly. Those negative thoughts only hindered what she was actually capable of.

 

“You could help set up new places for planting. That requires you to load bags of soil, think you’re up for it? It’s a simple job, but we do need a strong hand to help load ‘em over. You’d have the job with Jon, I’ll introduce you later.”

 

She smiled. It was a simpler job than she expected, but thankful it didn’t require too much thinking. She wasn’t stupid, but her anxieties would get the best of her and she knew it. A physical tasking job would distract her from over thinking, and she was thankful.

 

“Yeah… yeah, sounds great. When can I start helping out?”

 

“You can start tomorrow since you’d need help from Jon, but I can teach you the basics of planting and maintaining a garden for now. Up for it?”

 

She nodded.

 

The girl smiled at her. The girl’s eyes suddenly widened and she cursed under her breath.

 

“Shit, forgot to ask your name. My name’s Adia, what’s yours?”

 

She relaxed her hands by her side, no longer cracking her knuckles. It had been a long time since she had a conversation with someone, and an even longer time since someone had asked her name. She looked into Adia’s eyes, light brown ones looked into her dark amber ones. She grinned, outstretching her hand to grasp Adia’s.

 

“Aurora.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Since schools starting soon I'm not sure when I'll be able to update- but I'll definitely come back to this! I have an idea of where I want this story to go, and no worries; Big bad Negan will appear soon <3


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